


The Maiden and the Bearded Man

by Julieoftarth (Wherethereissmoak)



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: BeardBurnForBrienne2k19, F/M, Fluff, Post Season 7, beardwatch2017, on the road to winterfell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-10
Updated: 2017-11-10
Packaged: 2019-01-31 12:56:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12682347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wherethereissmoak/pseuds/Julieoftarth
Summary: Jaime and Brienne reunite shortly before arriving at Winterfell (Post-season 7 drabble)





	The Maiden and the Bearded Man

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the prompt "I would be immensely grateful if you could do a scene of when Jaime finally meets Brienne after he’s left Cersei (Winterfell perhaps) and something warm and amazing happens" from gotfanaticc and is also dedicated to all my friends on BeardWatch2017. You know who you are. ;) 
> 
> I have no beta...so...um...pretend there are no mistakes. LOL

“Mind if I sit here?” A hoarse voice said above Brienne, and her hand automatically started to grip Oathkeeper. After several week’s travel, she and Pod were finally close to Winterfell. She didn’t know if it was that Northern men were less picky, or maybe desperate because of the impending war with the dead, but she hadn’t had a moment’s peace at any inn in the north. Not that Winterfell would be much better, with that Wildling leering at her.

“Yes, I do mind,” she ground out, not bothering to look at current interruption for her evening meal.

“That’s too bad, because I’ve ridden a very long way to sit in this very spot.”

Brienne’s eyes rose to meet green ones she would recognize anywhere. She stood up quickly in surprise. “Jaime! What…how…I mean…Ser Jaime, it is good to see you, but what are you doing here?”

Jaime chuckled at her surprise, as he waved at her to sit again.

“Happy to see me? Or are you still mad at me?”

“What are you talking about? I wasn’t mad at you?”

“In that dragonpit, you said ‘Fuck Loyalty,’ which is the most un-Brienne of Tarth thing that could ever be said.” Jaime grinned at her and her stomach did a flip.

“I wasn’t angry, I was just disappointed. Your loyalty to your sister, even when she makes the worst decisions…oh I really shouldn’t talk about this.”

Jaime smiled sadly as he waved to the innkeeper to bring him a drink. In a soft, sad tone, he told her what had transpired in King’s Landing after she left. Brienne took the opportunity to study him while he spoke. He was thinner than he had been a few weeks ago, and he looked tired. She wondered how hard he had ridden to catch up with them. His full beard was back, reminding her of when they first met, except there were more patches of silver mixed into it.

His beard.

In King’s Landing, and at Riverrun, with his shorter hair and cleaner cut look, that had been Cersei’s Jaime. But now, he resembled her Jaime. The Jaime she could trust. Not the man who was caught up in court intrigue and blind loyalty to the queen.

Not mine. He will never be mine. No matter the status of his facial hair, she thought. Although, she really, really wanted to run her hands through that beard. Gods, where were these thoughts coming from? She had never thought such things about anyone…including Renly.

“Do I have crumbs?”

“What?” Brienne was pulled out of her thoughts by Jaime’s words.

“Do I have crumbs, in my beard? You are staring at it, so there must be something amiss.”

Brienne blushed. “No, it’s just…”

Jaime leaned back in his seat, observing her with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

“You like it, don’t you, the beard?”

Not trusting herself to speak, Brienne just nodded. Eager to change the subject, she asked again why he was there.

“I’m not, you know.”

“Not, what?”

“Earlier you said I had blind loyalty to my sister. I’m not loyal to her. Not anymore.”

“But at the dragon pit…you acted like you barely knew me.”

“Was for your benefit. I had to act indifferent or my sister would know what you mean to me…Besides, do you think anyone else would have made it out of there with their head after grabbing my arm and yelling at me in front of everyone?”

There were so many things to digest in that statement. She blushed at the latter.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have been so presumptuous…”

Jaime laughed.

“When have you ever not called me out when it was needed? It was just very dangerous to do so in front of my sister. I had to act like I didn’t care for you.”

Brienne blushed. “So you…care for me?”

Jaime’s eyes widened in surprise. “Of course, I do. I thought it obvious by now.”

Brienne wondered if her face betrayed the shock. “I…uh…care for you too, Ser Jaime.”

“You just called me Jaime earlier, can we go back to that? You don’t need a ‘ser’ for the name of the man that you love.”

“I didn’t say I love you,” Brienne objected.

Jaime just grinned mischievously at her. “Maybe not, but you do.”

His smile widened when she didn’t respond, looking away and taking a sip of her drink to hide her embarrassment.

“I do too, you know.”

“What?”

“Love you.”

“You don’t…I mean you can’t…”

Jaime placed his hand over his heart. “It’s yours, it will always be yours.”

Brienne’s heart slammed in her chest. He couldn’t mean…back when they had that exchange about her keeping Oathkeeper…he had meant something else?

“Gods, Brienne, you brave, noble, and true, but sometimes it takes you a really long time to understand things.”

And with that, Jaime stood up and pulled her with him, crashing his lips to hers. Brienne froze in shock for a moment before melting into him.

She didn’t know what would become of them when they reached Winterfell, what would happen when Jaime faced the Starks without an army, when he came face to face with Bran, how they would fare against the Night King’s army – but Brienne was content to spend a few minutes completely lost in each other.

When they rode through the gates of Winterfell a few hours later, bemused expressions proved that she didn’t not have to use words to show her support for Jaime.

Tormund looked at both of them, and stormed off after studying Brienne’s face.

Jon laughed when he saw them and told them the keep had use of a septon or godswood should they have need of it.

Sansa just blushed.

Bronn, who had ridden ahead, smirked knowingly.

Later that night, when she was laying in her new husband’s arms (Jaime had not wanted to wait to wed until after the upcoming war), he told her why. Brienne nearly died of embarrassment to learn that their passionate kissing from earlier had left burn marks on her face from Jaime’s beard.

Her husband just laughed at her mortification, saying that no one would ever know that she had beard burn marks in other places now too.

Brienne huffed in annoyance for a moment, before letting it go and snuggling into the man she never thought would never be hers.

She could be mad, but she really did love that beard after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! Drop a comment and let me know what you think! I'm always open to prompts. I may not get to them write away, but love adding things to my list!


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